Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Hang on a minute. The figures speak for themselves. Over €300 million of Irish taxpayers' money is invested in global firms abroad that are fossil fuel companies. The Minister of State is arguing that those figures could be higher with all the unintended consequences. People are involved in coal extraction and other types of activity worth €300 million. The fact they have divested from the business is a consequence of a previous decision. It has nothing to do with the record of the fund on the environment. The fund would still have been investing in these products were it not for the fact that three years ago we took a decision that all investment should be put back on Irish shores because capital expenditure had been cut dramatically. The record is not squeaky clean on this. I do not think we should try to paint a rosy picture.